Anticreeper for railway-rails.



W. R. THOMAS.

ANTIOREEPER FOR RAILWAY RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 13 19111 Patented July 30, 1912. A

n nrrnn cranes SJ-RMUEL E; GREEN, OF MIL' JV riUKEE VVISGONSINv PATENT OFFICE,

WILL I AM Ii, tenemas, or warnni'own.

Wiscons n assrcuvon or O E-HALE ITO;

ANTICREEPER For; RAILWAY-RAILS:

i Mosa cs The ohject ot' my invent-ion is to provide a simple, economical and thc1entanti-crcep-' mg attachment for railway rails, its construction and arrangement being; such that a lLlQ-O;])P()S1I1gf00t yn'i'eniher having a wedge shaped well for interlocking I engagement with wedp'osha-ped flanges 01. separable railclamps, ni he adjusted to rails of difieient dimensions without the use of 'holtsor nuts and when so attached the wedged engagementlietweenthe tie-opposing foot and rail cl aniping:ineinhci's due to the creeping tendency vo tgthe rails, serves to automatically clamping members tothe i'lll tighten said flange.

Specific objects ofmy invention. are to provide undercut wedgcshaped flanges of the tie-opposing: member with open unoh structed ends, whereby "dirt, ice orfiother foreignan attcr will not accumulate or 5m the .parts,:;there heing a longitndinah space or passage hetweeir'fianges of a clamping member, whereby an outlet is formed in order that i said foreign-matter may be cleared incidental. to movement of the parts;

Another object ofmy invention is to provide independent'dogi and ratchet locking mechanism in connection with flanges of the railzcarrying and" tie-opposing members, whereby hackmovemcnt of the rail-clamping incin'hersincidental to vibration is preventedthe parts when connected by the locking" mechanism loeingr interlocked in such n'ianner thatthey cannot be removedexcept hv breakage; l

ith the ahove.objects in view 'my in vention consists in what is: herein cl nnedx' g dr w' ski Figure '1: represents an end view of a rail mounted upon a ticsection and equipped with an anti-crecpingde- \ir-c embodying); the features of my invention; Fig. 2 aside elevation ot the same with a portion of the tie in section as indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3. a plan View of the anti-creeping attachment with i I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed flovember 13. 1911.

shown Serial No. 660,075.

the railiemoved,and Fig. 4, an enlarged? Patented J 1113' 30,

detailed cross-section of the locking mecha nisni, the section being indicated/by line ell ot-Fig. 3. k

leterrmg by characters to the 'drawings,l represents a tle-opposing'toot member having .a longitudinally extended .we' hl', the upper face of which web provided with oppositely disposed longitudinal flanges 2' havingundercut grooved Ways 2- that are in opposite directions and to-' inclined nether form a tapered seatfor interlocking 'enc cement wlth a'rail clamping member.

'ilih'e rail clainpiing member comprises a" pair of .separable,' laterally dlsposed rectangular plates 3 having npwardly'extending and longitudinally disposed hpped edges 3 for engagement wlth thcedges of a rail flange A, the same being" indic'ated'by l dotted lines.

The lower inner opposite edges of the plates 3 are formed with downturned flanges constituting .ton'gues that have their outer faces 4 inclined and u ndercut in opposite directions for "matched engagement with the tapered seat formed by the ways 2 of the tie-opposing member 1,

'the tapered seat of which tie-opposing-memher flares outwardly inthe opposite direction from the direction of th'e'travel of "the rail incidental to creeping.

In assembling the elements comprising the 4 ajntiscreeping attachment, the tie-opposing toot 1s ad usted against one face of a crosstie B and upon that side thereof facing the direction of travel of the rail in its-cree n mg tendency. The web port1on1'-ot the tie-opposing foot, is disposed nnderfthe' railflange and-centrally thereof and theflipped edges 3' of the plates 3, which together form the rail-clampingmemher.'""a're ad justed to the' rail flange and arcslid toWa-rd the tie to eflectinterlockmg engagement hetween their inclined face flanges t and the :taperc-d seat formed in-the web 1 of the tie opposing toot. 2 of the tiempposing foot and the uiiderfiaiirfethus form interlocked connection hetween the members. whereby saich tic-snp porting nieniher is held in suspension under The plates 3' are illPll';

the rail flange. tapped to force the same securely into 611-- c'ae'einmil'. Wherel'rv the wedging action causes said plates to contract with respect to each other and thus frictionally grip the The unde cut grooved waivs 'ciit faces 4 of the rail clamping member edges of the rail securely. Now, should the rail tend to creep in the direction as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, it is apparent that in its travel, it will cause the clamping members or plates 3 to follow,- through the frictional engagement with the rail flange and thereby said clampingmembers will be drawn toward each other through their wedging tongue and groove engagement with the tie-opposing foot, which foot will remain stationary, owing to its abutting contact with the side of the tie. Hence it will be seen that the constant vibrating and creeping tendency of the rail in place of acting to loosen the anti-creeping attachment serves to tighten the same.

Attention is called to the fact that the flanges 2 of the tie-opposing member are entirely above its web portion, the same beingunobstructed at their ends, whereby a clear passage is formed therebetween for dirt, sleet or other foreign matter, by which provision the device will not. be clogged, caused through a. pocket of accumulated matter, which would otherwise pack therein and pre vent the rail-clamping members from performing theirfunctions.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in order to guard against tendency of the two-part rail-clamping member from slipping backward and loosening its grip upon the railfiange incidental to vibration, each grooveway 2 of the tie-opposing foot is provided with a series of serrations 5 that extend a portion of their length. These serrations are engaged by abrupt ends of spring-dogs 6, which spring-dogs are seated in recesses 7 of the undercut flanges 4: of the plates that form the rail-engaging members, the springdogs being secured in said seats by suitable rivets 8 that pass through the flanges 2. Hence it is apparent from the above described mechanism that when the rail clamping members are seated so as to grip said rail they will be locked against reverse move ,ment, itbeing understood that the serrations in the undercut faces f of the flanges are preferably in the form of ratchet teeth as shown. Furthermore by this construction the interlocked engagement between the members will prevent the latter from being removed except lay-force sufficient to break one of the spring-dogs, this being particularly advantageous for the reason that devices of this character are not used after being removed and therefore, inthis instance, cannot be detached in the spirit of vandalism or for theft. Still another advantage of this interlocking mechanism is that it does not require a severe blow to place the railgripping members in their gripping engige- 'andspring tongues secured to the ment, it being only necessary to slide the same into place until the lips 3' seat against the rail-flange edges, and incidental to said movement each spring-dog will engage one of the first teeth of the series to form a lock. Thereafter thecreeping tendency of the rail will automatically tightenthe parts in the ordinary manner and the spring-dog in moving independently will engage the next tooth or serration, whereby the take-up movement incidental to travel of a train over the track is held.

I claim:

1. An anti-creeper attachment for rails comprising a tie-opposing foot having a web extending therefrom, undercut longitudinally disposed flanges in connection with the web, the undercut flanges being inclined in opposite directions to form a tapered seat, serrations in the undercutfaces of said flanges, separable transversely arranged rail-clamping members comprising plates each having an outer rail-engaging clip and an'inner longitudinally disposed flange, the flanges being oppositely inclined with relation to each other for matched engagement with the inclined undercut faces of the web flanges, whereby a wedging engagement is effected -to cause contraction of the railclamping members incidental to creeping tendency of the rail to which it is attached, matched faces of the flanges of the rail-clamping members for engagement with the serrations formed in the foot.

2. An' anti-creeping attachment for rails comprising a tie-opposing foot having a horizontally disposed web, longitudinally converging flanges projecting from the web, the flanges being provided with oppositely disposed undercut faces, a series of serrations formed in the undercut faces, a pair of transversely.aranged lipped plates constituting a rail-clamping member,'an obliquely disposed longitudinal flange depending from each plate, theflanges being provided with undercut faces adapted to have sliding engagement with the flanges of the tieopposing foot, and a locking sprlng secured to the undercut faces of the rail-clamping member eugageable with the flange serrations of said tie-opposing foot.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukeeand State of iVisconsin in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM R. THOMAS.

flanges of the tie-opposing Witnesses MAY DOWNEY, N. E. OLIPHANT. 

